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Gibsonia is located in the central and southwest parts of Richland Township, and it is 16 miles (26 km) north of downtown Pittsburgh. The CDP's elevation is 1,037 feet (316 m) above sea level. Gibsonia appears on the Valencia U.S. Geological Survey Map. The area is in the Eastern time zone (GMT -5).

Gibsonia was named in honor of the Gibson family who settled the area; their original house is still standing. The early history of Gibsonia is, naturally enough, interwoven with the history of the Gibson family. About the time of the Civil War, Charles Gibson, Jr., built the first steam flour mill west of the Alleghenies on Grubbs Road. His granddaughter, Nancy Gibson James, recalls hearing her uncle tell of the farmers riding to the mill with sacks of grain across the saddles. The Gibson family homestead was built by her grandfather, Charles Gibson, Jr., in 1839. Just below the home, near the railroad crossing, still remains the foundation of Charles Gibson's general store. This building, destroyed by fire in 1908, besides housing the store was also the first post office in Gibsonia. For about ten years before it burned it was in use as a mission of the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church.[3]